A British traveller who visited the world's 201 countries without flying has officially been awarded a Guinness World Record.

It took Graham Hughes nearly four years to cover 160,000 miles in 1,426 days - and he filmed a selfie video every step of the way.

The 33-year-old from Liverpool used
buses, taxis, trains and his own two feet to become the first person in the world to carry out the trip.

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Official certificate: Graham Hughes celebrates setting the record for the fastest man to visit 201 countries without flying

Record: Hughes' trip around the world has been edited into four short minutes - starting with Brazil

Long way round: His mission began in South America, taking in Guyana along the way

After a year of deliberation and examination, for which officials had to check through 1,000,000 GPS data points, 10,000 photos, 400 hours of video and 192 passport pages, Guinness World Records has finally validated the records.

And Hughes was presented with a certificate announcing him as setting the record for the 'fastest time to visit all countries by public surface transport' - taking four years and 31 days.

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In a video on YouTube, Hughes, who visited 197 UN member states and 20 that are not, said: 'I've just been given my world record certificate. I've had to wait 14 months for my record to be accredited.

'But here it is. So we've brought my friends and family who helped me along the way to help me celebrate the fact I am, and always will be, the first person to visit every country in the world without flying.'

A whistlestop visit to Guinea-Bissau happened on his way from The Gambia to Senegal, where he made it through four African countries in one day

The Liverpudlian adventurer filmed himself in front of the sign marking the Zimbabwean border

The 1,426-day journey started in Uruguay and ended with its 201st nation, South Sudan

Hughes filmed his travels, which he
carried out on a shoestring budget of just £65 a week, for a documentary
after setting off from his hometown on New Year's Day 2009.

By
December 2012, he crossed the border into the newly-created South Sudan
and cracked open the champagne to celebrate completing his mission.

Hughes edited days of footage into a whirlwind tour of the globe, taking in one nation every second.

The video sees him posing in the sunshine of South America and the Caribbean, wrapped up warm in Canada, and even pretending to be under arrest by locals in the South Pacific island of Vanuatu.

Despite going off the typical backpacker's trail for much of his trip, Hughes still found time to fit in a wonder of the world by visiting the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt

In Bangladesh, Hughes proved he was really there by holding up local currency

Without planes, some of the nations were harder to reach than others - but not the ones you might expect.

Hughes said it was easier
to get into North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan than it was to reach
remote islands such as Nauru in the South Pacific, the Maldives and the
Seychelles.

It took seven attempts to get into the Seychelles because of the threat from Somali pirates.

He mainly crossed the seas by hitching lifts with cargo ships but struck lucky on the way to the Dominican Republic when a cruise ship let him come aboard.

Hughes also shows himself receiving a warm welcome in the Pacific island nation Vanuatu

The end! South Sudan didn't exist as a country when Graham Hughes set off in January 2009, but he crossed its border in December last year and toasted the end of his challenge

His favourite place was Palau, an island state in the Western Pacific.

Marco Frigatti, Senior Vice President, Records Management Team, Guinness World Records, said: 'I can’t remember a more absorbing record to verify in recent years, it took a lot of effort and time to authenticate.

'Graham’s achievement is astonishing, though, and it’s a pleasure to recognise his new Guinness World Records title.'

GRAHAM'S GLOBAL TOUR

Graham Hughes visited 201 nations, including the 193 members of the United Nations, Taiwan, Vatican City, Palestine, Kosovo, Western Sahara and the four home nations of the United Kingdom.

Territories are marked with a 'T' before the number.

The countries are listed in the order they appear in the video, not in the order he visited.

Graham Hughes' adventures were even turned into a National Geographic documentary